


Unexpected Tendencies

by eliospiano



Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017) RPF
Genre: Friendship/Love, How Do I Tag, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pills, Strangers, mention of depression
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-08-27 17:30:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16706848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eliospiano/pseuds/eliospiano
Summary: Armie is a soon-to-be doctor who is currently in residency, but he doesn’t act like one, and Timmy is...well...difficult to describe. In this story, which jumps around a little in terms of time, Armie and Timmy attempt to navigate through an unexpected friendship which could potentially be more...





	1. The Alley

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a play I wrote a few weeks ago for a class, and I hope you guys like it! Feedback is always welcome! :)

Unbuttoning the first three buttons on my shirt, I stop for a second to look around. The bar we were at wasn’t by any means nice. The paint was mostly peeled off of the walls, the floors seemed to be covered with an unnamed sticky substance, and the bartender’s outfit was so revealing that I could feel myself tense up every time I looked at her for too long.  
But we weren’t there for nice.  
We were there for a buzz.  
The same bartender smiled at me a few minutes before, probably thinking that I was checking her out. And I was, in a way, but not for the reason she probably thought.  
I was just so baffled by how comfortable she must be with her body to have actually left her house with practically nothing on. I can’t even imagine being so...exposed. The thought sort of frightens me in an odd way.  
The heat of the room forces me out of my own head, and noticing the ever-hanging musk in the air once again, I turn towards Nick.  
“Another round?”, he nods at my empty drink.  
“Yea, why not”, I give him my best smile. Josh, seated to the right of Nick, sticks his head out from behind Nicks back.  
“Yea! Another!”, he beams.  
“Josh, you don’t need any more”, I tell him.  
“What do you mean? You can’t say shit man, you’ve had just as many as I have”, he groans.  
“Mhm, and I can take a lot more alcohol than you can”, I say, and he looks at me with an annoyance that could kill.  
Nick was there because he needed to take a rest from studying for finals, and Josh was going through an unexpected breakup.  
We were all there for completely different reasons, trying to soak up the solidarity as a team.  
Everything was going fine, great even, and I had just dipped into my 4th shot when Josh suddenly turned green, and before I could say a word he threw up, missing my shoes by a fourth of an inch. Unfortunately, Nicks shoes weren’t so lucky.  
“Dude, what the fuck?!”, Nick shouted, grunting at the sight of his new sneakers, now covered in the remnants of our dinner. He got up quickly as the male bartender looked over at us from across the room. More specifically, looked straight at me.  
“You’ve gotta get him out of here”, he directs. I’m up already, understanding at once that we are no longer welcome. With the way it is beginning to smell, I am ready to leave anyways. We all crowd out together then, me guiding an overly drunk Josh out the glass door, Nick stumbling close behind me. The cool night air hits me like a slap to the face, and the stillness of it reminds me of a time when I was nine and my mom took me to the small park near our house because they had rebuilt the playground. I blink the thought of my mother pushing me on the brand new swing out of my mind, and lean forward to help support Josh, who looks like he may faint at any second. Nick comes on the other side to help me pull him along, down the street and towards an alleyway that connects as a shortcut to my apartment.  
“Screw her right? Who needs to date people anyways? Nothing ever lasts anymore”, Josh slurs as we help him walk. The breeze flowing around us whips down the front of my half-buttoned shirt, and i’m thankful for the cool wind.  
“You know you don’t believe that, Josh, you’re just really fucked up right now and you miss her. You’d probably be a little better off if you’d have stopped drinking earlier”, I chastise him. He doesn’t take it well.  
“Thanks for the diagnosis Doc, I’ll be sure to rid my pain in other ways next time”, he sneers sarcastically. Why am I friends with these people again?  
“Not a doctor yet, one more year of residency. You’d know that if you’d bother to ask”, I sigh.  
Nicks voice comes out irritated and tired. “Would you two quit? I can’t take this for another 6 blocks.”  
We continue walking into the dimly lit alley, and I’m consciously aware of the fact that it’s so dirty in here. I’m no germaphobe, but the shadows from the two lights are being cast as an almost moving picture, giving it the appearance that something is crawling over the walls. As we walk, I feel my chest contract when I notice that there’s a figure leaning against the left wall of the alley.  
Passed out.  
My heart, although I have no idea who this person is, thumps in my chest like it wants to leap out and save them. Immediately alarmed, I drop my side of Josh, causing him to grunt, and rush over to the person.  
“Hey, hey!”, I call out, gently nudging the toe of his boot with my foot, “are you alright? Can you hear me?”  
No answer.  
“Hey, Armie, I’m gonna keep walking Josh home okay?”, Nick says, already walking away. I wave him off, not taking my eyes off of the figure at my feet. With my brain moving a million miles a second, I crouch down towards the man on the ground, reaching out to touch the side of his cold neck.  
“Breathing”, I mutter to myself, exhaling relief and running a hand over the fresh stubble lining my face. By instinct, I check his pockets, looking for identification.  
Instead, I pull out a small empty pill bottle and swallow hard. This is not what I had planned for tonight. I read the side label.  
“Effexor”, I think about it for a second. For depression and anxiety. I reach into my pocket quickly, grabbing my phone. I dial 911 after the second time because my hands shake as I do so.  
While waiting for an answer I search the man’s others pockets, pulling out medical ID. It reads ‘Mental Health Professional’. A psychologist?  
By the time the line picks up on the third ring, i’m considering carrying this man all the way to the hospital.  
“911, what’s your emergency?”  
“Hello, I would like to report an unresponsive man.”  
“Okay. Is the man breathing?”  
“Yes.”  
“Do you know his name?”  
I flip the medical card over in my hand, studying it for a second.  
“His name is...Timothee Chalamet”, I try my best to pronounce the name that is foreign to my lips.  
“Alright sir and are you aware of what caused this?”  
“He seems to have taken some pills...I’m not sure, I found him in an alleyway...the medication is Effexor.”  
“Thank you. What is your location?”  
“We’re in an alleyway behind the Snakes Quarters Bar on South Boulevard”, I rush to remember where we are.  
“Alright sir, we are sending units to you now, they should be there in about 15 minutes.”  
“Thank you”, I sigh.  
“Would you like for me to stay on the line until they arrive, sir?”  
“No, thank you, that won’t be necessary. Goodbye”, I end the call, sliding the phone into my back pocket, my senses finally reminding me how cold it is based on the tingling of my fingertips and the burning of my nostrils. I look back at him, the man whose face I haven’t seen yet, but feel like I know, and set the pill bottle down in front of him. In a moment of weakness, seeing how small the man looks in front of me, I forget about the filth surrounding us and sink to the ground next to him. Placing one arm around his thin body to hopefully project some warmth into him, I whisper to him while wrapping a warm hand around his ice-cold one.  
“Don’t worry, man. Someone’s here. I’m here.”


	2. Car Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I forgot to post..ahhhh! This isn’t even that good but I have hella writers block right now and I’m trying my hardest. Also this is short but it’s because the scene itself was short. Love you!

Cudi blares through the speakers of my car, and though i can feel the bass pounding in my eardrums, I turn it up at little louder.  
My lighter won’t work which is just a beautiful detail to my already shitty day.  
I let my cigarette hang from my lips as I dig through the center console for my back up, and upon finding it with my fingertips with a joyous “aha!”, I almost miss the car stalled on the side of the road.  
Swerving out of the way to narrowly avoid missing the car sitting there, I look into my rear view mirror and for a split second come eye to eye with a distressed looking man. I suddenly feel like a dick for almost crushing his car and probably him in the process.  
It takes me 5 seconds, another eye roll and a sigh to turn the car around.  
“Hey, man...i’m sorry about almost side swiping you back there”, I half-yell as I walk towards the car after parking in front of him.  
No response, and I can’t see the guy who was previously standing there.  
“Hello? Is there anything I can do to help?”, I try to be polite to compensate for my previous dick move. I run both hands through my greasy hair and for once I wish I would’ve showered this morning.  
The tall man that shows up from the hood of his car is, for some reason, unexpected.  
“Woah!”, he pulls back from the car engine, nearly hitting his head and losing his balance on his way up,“I didn’t see you there!”  
His height throws me off.  
“I’m sorry man, I didn’t mean to like freak you out or anything I just...I almost hit you and your car a minute ago and I swear I didn’t mean to and then I noticed you were broken down and I figured the least I could do was stop to see if you needed any help”, I am aware that I am talking really fast and probably sound like I’m babbling but that happens to me quite often with strangers. He smiles though.  
A full-toothed, must use teeth whitener because those things are blinding and god his canines are sharp, smile. I try extremely hard not to notice how symmetrically handsome his face is.  
The tall figure steps towards me then, wiping tar-filled hands onto the backs of his jeans which makes me want to grin for some reason. I find myself taking a step back as he comes into full view, blocking the sunlight from my eyes.  
“All is forgiven, man, don’t worry about it. I’m just...I can’t get the damned thing to start”, he chuckles with a deep voice, clearly stressed out.  
“I have cables”, I offer, trying to seem helpful. The man’s eyes light up like I told him he won the lottery.  
“Oh my god, you do? That would be simply amazing, thank you. You don’t mind jumping me?”  
Absolutely not, my subconscious directs. I shrug it off, surprised at my own thoughts. Mind out of the gutter Chalamet, you look like a piece of dirt.  
“Hmm?”, I say, not up to speed with the lingo of car cables and all of that. I’m not a car-handy person, never have been never will be. The only reason I have them is because my mom insisted I keep them ‘just in case’.  
“The car”, he explains, trying not to laugh at my confusion, “you don’t mind jumping the car?”  
“Oh!” I feel so damn stupid, “No of course hang on let me grab them.”  
I hook them up to where they’re supposed to go or at least where I think they’re supposed to go and he climbs into the front seat.  
“Alright, turn the key now.”  
“Oh, thank god!”, the man looks up towards the sky, clearly relieved. He hops out and crosses towards me, reaching out with a hand. I take it. It’s calloused; I like it.  
“I can’t tell you how grateful I am for this, um, what did you say your name was?”  
“It’s not a problem dude, my name is Timothee. Timmy if that’s easier.”  
“Timmy. I like that. Well, thank you Timmy. I’m Armie, by the way.”  
Now that he has a name it stirs in my head. Armie. Armie. Armie. Armie.  
“A pleasure”, I reply, suddenly aware that we’ve been shaking hands for longer than necessary. I gently pull mine from his just as he notices the odd timeframe in which we shook hands, but he doesn’t seem to mind.  
He looks at me, smiling for a moment.  
“I’m sorry for staring”, Armie says, “but I feel like I know you from somewhere. Like we’ve met before.”  
“I don’t know where we would’ve met, unless you were one of my patients and i’m sure I would remember you if you were”, I chuckle. Realization seems to cross over his face.  
“Patient? Oh! Wait, I have met you before! You work in Mental Health right?”  
“Sorry...”, I laugh, almost uncomfortably? “How exactly do you know that?”, I add.  
“I uhm...I called your ambulance for you about 6 months ago near a bar...you were passed out.”  
“Passed out? Me?”, I suddenly want to crawl into a ball. This was who saved my life? I should be thanking him, but right now I want nothing more than to lock myself in my apartment and not come out ever again.  
I need a fucking cigarette.  
I pull at the sleeves of my sweater as I speak, “You must have my confused with someone else..I’d never be caught dead in an alley”, I half-heartedly chuckle.  
“I never mentioned an alley”, he points out, looking at my sideways, blinking in the harsh sunlight.  
Instead of responding, I walk away, physically and mentally unprepared to answer him. Although this man doesn’t know me in the slightest, he calls out to me as I walk away.  
“Timothee? Where are you going man? I’m sorry! Thank you again!”, he yells, waving a hand as I get into my car.  
I put up a hand in a semi wave in the rear view before putting the car in drive and putting another cigarette to my lips. Fuck him and fuck that.


End file.
